


Steel In Travail

by taichara



Category: Final Fantasy IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 16:36:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10416435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: Edward reaches his turning point.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eliyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliyes/gifts).



Panting for breath, Edward hunkered over his beloved instrument and ignored the iron tang in his throat as he stilled the harp's strings with a hand that shook. No doubt he looked quite grim, all things considered; his nurse was hovering over him, after all, wringing his hands at the fine froth Damcyan's wayward prince had worked himself into --

But no, came the thought, a revelation almost, sparked by stubbornness and fanned by fevered fire; and a faint, wry smile touched Edward's blood-stained lips.

No prince dragged himself from his sickbed in a kingdom far from his desert home to break a darkling fae's enchantment.

No prince, indeed.

_I have a kingdom to return to._

_I'd say I shouldn't have left, guilt or no, grief or no, except -- this isn't about me, not any more. This is about the world. And even I had, and have, a part to play, as it turns out._

Comforting thought, tempering thought. It gave him a goal, and new-kindled resolve, and Edward's musings turned inward even as the harried nurse eased him up off the floor and guided him back to his abandoned bed. Yes, let them do what they could. He could still think, could still plan, even in this sorry state.

It had to pass. It _would_ pass. And when he returned to Damcyan and its blessedly dry warmth, the weight on his heart would be lifted.

It would be lifted and he would rebuild.

Rebuild his kingdom.

Rebuild himself.

Yes.


End file.
